Waffle House Does These 12 Things Better Than Cracker Barrel

When you're craving Southern-style favorites at a sit-down restaurant (as opposed to a fast food chain), Waffle House and Cracker Barrel are arguably your two best chain options. These are both large chains with locations stretched across large parts of the country, and they both feature some beloved dishes that customers keep coming back for. But as someone who grew up in the South and has eaten at both of these restaurants countless times in my life, my preference is absolutely Waffle House. Yes, both chains have their merits, but it's Waffle House that I always make sure to return to when I go back home to visit family.

So, what exactly is it that Waffle House does so much better than Cracker Barrel? To be honest, some of it is purely vibe-based — you have to visit several locations of both chains to truly understand for yourself. However, there are some concrete positive qualities that Waffle House possesses that Cracker Barrel just doesn't. We're going to be taking a closer look at these different factors so hopefully you, too, can become a true Waffle House evangelist. Once you get a craving for good old WaHo, check out these mistakes to avoid while dining at the chain to ensure you get the best possible experience while you're there.

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

Considering Waffle House is a restaurant that's literally focused on waffles, many people consider it primarily a breakfast spot (even though it has lunch and dinnertime dishes as well). However, my favorite time to visit the chain isn't first thing in the morning — at that time of day, the level of greasiness that Waffle House offers doesn't always sound appealing. Rather, I love making a WaHo run at night, perhaps after enjoying a beverage or two at a nearby bar. Luckily, that's basically always a possibility, since most Waffle Houses are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even on major holidays. This makes it easy to pop in whenever you get a craving for an All-Star Special.

By contrast, Cracker Barrel is very clearly not a place to go at 2 a.m. Many locations of this restaurant close around 9 to 10 p.m., making for a very different atmosphere. I've made many memories during late-night visits to Waffle House, memories that a Cracker Barrel could never hold. If you're also a fan of eating a full breakfast in the wee hours of the morning before you go to bed for the night, then Waffle House is probably the place for you.

Yes, the rumors are true: I love hash browns. Luckily, both of these chains carry them in various different forms, so if you're trying to satisfy your potato craving, you're in good hands either way. But if you ask me, Waffle House has a much stronger hash brown game because you can more easily customize the dish. At this spot, you get to choose whether you want your hash browns smothered in onions, covered in cheese, chunked with hickory smoked ham, or diced with grilled tomatoes. You can also get them peppered with jalapeños, capped with grilled mushrooms, topped with Bert's chili, or finished off with gravy. When you place an order, you'll request your hash browns peppered, smothered, and covered, and they'll come out decorated with onions, cheese and jalapeños. I really love this level of customization, so you can get exactly the dish you want.

Cracker Barrel has a different way of doing things. While there are different hash brown options on the menu, from plain hash browns to loaded hash brown casseroles, they come already topped with specific ingredients, and you'll have to make a special request if you want yours prepared a different way — a request that may not even be honored, depending on the location. For those who prefer more control over their food, Waffle House is the clear winner.

Sometimes, choosing which restaurant to go to might just come down to convenience. You don't always want to go out of your way to get a meal, which means you may be more likely to go with whatever's closer. Because there are just so many more Waffle House locations than there are Cracker Barrel locations, you have a better chance of finding a WaHo nearby, particularly if you live in the South.

So, just how many restaurants does each of these chains have? Waffle House now boasts over 2,000 stores spread across 25 states. On the other hand, Cracker Barrel operates around 660 stores. That being said, Cracker Barrel does have a wider range, with locations in 44 separate states. Of course, which restaurant is more convenient for you depends entirely on location. (Actually, I live relatively near a Cracker Barrel, but sadly, there are no Waffle Houses close to where I reside now.) But if we're looking at numbers alone, it's clear that Waffle House dominates Cracker Barrel when it comes to number of locations.

Eating out is now pricier than ever, so it only makes sense that diners want to get the best possible bang for their buck. Waffle House beats out the competition in this regard as well. Overall, it's considered the more affordable chain, even though WaHo's prices have also risen steeply.

I took a closer look at prices for a Waffle House and a Cracker Barrel, both located in Georgia, and found that biscuits and gravy, for example, were cheaper at the former. The All-Star Special, for example, which is perhaps Waffle House's most iconic menu item, is priced at $12.85. Similar styles of breakfast at Cracker Barrel, like the Country Boy Breakfast or Uncle Herschel's Favorite Breakfast, range in price from $13.49 to $16.99. That kind of a difference might not seem major, but if you're ordering several menu items, it can really start to add up. For the more budget-minded diners among us, going to Waffle House will usually get you more bang for your buck.

Is this one kind of subjective? Of course. I'm sure there are some who love the very particular kind of ambience that only a Cracker Barrel can provide. But for me, Waffle House just has more character, more personality. Maybe it's the fact that I can actually see what's going on in the kitchen or because there always seems to be someone eating or drinking a coffee alone, looking deep in thought. Perhaps it has something to do that Waffle House is open all night, which means you get to see a totally different clientele than the type who would frequent Cracker Barrel at 5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday. And, admittedly, maybe it's just because I made so many fond memories at Waffle Houses in my high school and college days.

Can Waffle Houses be a little seedy sometimes, particularly at night? Yes, of course — most 24/7 places can be. And, sure, you might come across people you'd never cross paths with anywhere else but at a Waffle House. But it's just that fact, that Waffle House feeds such a large cross-section of the population, that gives the restaurant chain its character.

I'm going to level with you guys here: I've definitely purchased items from the Cracker Barrel Country Store before. And there was a time in my life that I enjoyed walking through that gift shop before and sometimes even after my meal, just window shopping or maybe looking for a present for a loved one. But these days, it feels like we're constantly being marketed to, like companies are always trying to sell us something. So, the last thing I want to do before I know I'm about to spend money on food is to wander through a store full of kitschy and unnecessary knick knacks. Cracker Barrel is already getting my money with its (arguably overpriced) food, and now the store wants me to buy something else too? It just feels kind of greedy at this point.

But Waffle House isn't trying to sell its customers anything but bitter cups of coffee and deliciously buttery waffles. While I'm eating those waffles, for a brief moment, I can tune out that incessant late stage capitalism-induced marketing chatter that otherwise seems to persist everywhere we go. Ironically, though, I would definitely wear some WaHo merch.

One thing about Waffle House is it's easy to get in and out quickly if you're just trying to snag a quick meal. Of course, you can hang around for longer than you want. But generally speaking, I've always gotten my food very quickly at WaHo. At Cracker Barrel? Things may take a little longer. If you've been in both restaurants, then you know that the footprint of Cracker Barrels tends to be quite a bit larger than that of Waffle House locations. This extra space alone will make for slower service since your food has to travel farther. At Waffle House, staff members stay behind the counter, so they can easily drop your food off at your table as soon as it's done.

There's also just the fact that Cracker Barrel seems to have long wait times generally. A Facebook user said they sat and waited for 30 minutes before they were even acknowledged at Cracker Barrel, and others on Reddit have complained of similarly long wait times. Apparently, those long wait times even apply to pickup orders, according to others. If you want to get your meal quickly, Waffle House may be a better pick.

If you're going out to eat with a big group of people and everyone wants to eat something different, then Cracker Barrel might just be your best bet. It has a long, sprawling menu that features everything from classic diner breakfast favorites to country fried chicken to pork chops and even trout. In some cases, that level of variety can seem like a good thing. But in reality, I've found that it means that a lot of the menu items at Cracker Barrel are just okay. The chain doesn't really seem to lean into any one thing, preferring to offer variety instead of just focusing on a limited number of items really well.

But Waffle House definitely takes the latter route. The menu at WaHo is not long — it's really just a double-sided sheet that gives you all of the options you can choose from. You're not going to find any seafood, and the non-breakfast items are limited. But honestly, most of what Waffle House does, it does really well, even if there are some dishes I'd prefer to avoid at the chain. In fact, there aren't even that many waffle flavors on the menu, but the ones that are there are really solid.

One of the things I love about Waffle House is the fact that it really does offer a classic diner experience (or at least a version of it). So, it only makes sense that these restaurants would have jukeboxes inside. Yes, that means you can play what song you want to come next, which can make going to Waffle House a bit more engaging. And although you can just walk straight up to the jukebox and select what you want to play, now there's even a way to queue a song right from your phone using an app.

If you've been to Cracker Barrel before, then you know that the chain doesn't offer this feature. You'll just have to listen to whatever they have playing on the speakers. I wouldn't really say it's a drawback of eating out at this restaurant, since it's not something you'd even expect from a dining experience. But Waffle House offers the jukebox as a fun little extra that makes eating there feel a bit more exciting and nostalgic, especially if you're taking little ones along with you.

I've already mentioned how much more I prefer the overall vibe at Waffle House compared to Cracker Barrel. One thing that has a lot to do with that is the fact that Waffle House has bar seating. That means you can go into the restaurant and eat alone more comfortably without taking up a whole booth, or you can sit there with others and enjoy watching the action in the kitchen. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might even strike up a conversation with the person next to you. Most of the time, bars are the only place that offers this very specific kind of interaction, but Waffle House gives you that chance too, and I think that's beautiful.

Waffle House (and other spots like it) can feel homey and comforting, with a coziness that's hard to deny. I think a huge part of that feel comes down to that bar seating. And even if you choose to sit at a booth instead, you can still benefit from the kind of community feel that it offers all patrons. But at Cracker Barrel, bar seating just isn't an option. You'll be seated at a normal table, which is fine, but it doesn't offer the same kind of specific charm.

That leads me to something else I love doing at Waffle House: watching the cooks in the kitchen. Sure, you might see an open kitchen at an especially trendy, high-end restaurant, but it's not something you'd generally expect to see at such a casual chain. But part of Waffle House's appeal is the fact that you get to watch everything in action. You'll also get to experience all the sounds and chaos that can often take place in commercial kitchens, which also helps add to the overall unique atmosphere this restaurant chain has to offer.

On the other hand, the kitchen is closed at Cracker Barrel, just like you'd probably expect from this kind of chain. Again, that's not really a negative, since not being able to watch the cooks doesn't exactly make for a bad restaurant experience. At the same time, though, it also doesn't offer the same appeal that Waffle House boasts.

There's no doubt that Waffle House is a Southern cultural icon. More specifically, it's an Atlanta icon, and as a former Atlanta resident (and someone who still misses the city every day), it's an aspect of the culture I feel proud of. Like the city itself, it's unpretentious and unfussy. Although it might not seem like much to those on the outside, if you know, you know. Atlanta is weird and whimsical, and I truly believe that Waffle House holds the same energy. And if you grew up in the South like I did, then I'd be shocked if you hadn't eaten at Waffle House countless times in your life — it's just that ubiquitous. In fact, it's such an iconic restaurant that two of my friends actually had Waffle House cater their wedding, and it was definitively cool, not weird.

Now, I'm not saying that Cracker Barrel isn't a deeply beloved restaurant or that it doesn't have plenty of loyal customers. And yes, I think that Cracker Barrel sometimes does offer some solid Southern cuisine. But the restaurant itself and the atmosphere it provides doesn't tug on the same cultural heartstrings as does Waffle House.